A system of axioms for Minkowski spacetime (Q830382)

Remarkable for the simplicity of its primitive notions, this is a new axiomatization, in the spirit of Tarski, of \(4\)-dimensional Minkowski space-time in terms of two primitive notions, a ternary predicate for betweenness, and a quaternary predicate \(<_{\equiv}\), with \(<_{\equiv} (x,y,z.w)\) holding for four points \(x, y, z\) and \(w\) when the square of the relativistic intervals between \(x\) and \(y\) is less than that between \(z\) and \(w\). If \(x=(t_1, x_1, y_1, z_1)\) and \(y=(t_2, x_2, y_2, z_2)\), then the square of the relativistic interval between \(x\) and \(y\) is \((t_1 - t_2)^2 - (x_1 - x_2)^2- (y _1- y_2)^2-(z_1- z_2) ^2\). There are affine ordered axioms, dimension axioms, axioms constraining the length of arbitrary segments in terms of the lengths of their components, construction axioms, axioms expressing some formal properties of the primitive notions, and a second-order continuity axiom (all the other axioms being first-order). The authors prove, by means of a segment calculus, a representation theorem, ensuring that the model of the axiom system is the intended one: \(4\)-dimensional Minkowski space-time over \({\mathbb R}\).